Duke of Montolino. At this point the opera begins. 'Preparing La stranieraAfter Bianca e Fernando, Bellini remained in Genoa and then returned to Milan, but with no specific opportunities in place. Some complications had emerged in his relationship with Domenico Barbaja, the impresario who controlled both the Naples and the Milan theatres. However, when Barbaja visited Milan in June, he offered Bellini the opportunity to choose between working for either Naples or Milan as the venue for his next opera. For the composer, the decision hung on the availability of singers for each of the houses, especially because Giovanni Battista Rubini, his preferred tenor, was contracted to sing only in Naples. However, by 16 June, he had decided on the location to be Milan, and then signed a contract to write a new opera for the Carnival season for a fee of one thousand ducati. This compared to 150 ducati for his first opera. Therefore, for La straniera, Bellini received a fee which was sufficient for him to be able to make his living solely by composing music, and this new work became an even greater success than Il pirata had been. As for singers, it appears there was some doubt about the tenor, but that the soprano, Henriette Méric-Lalande and, for the baritone role, Luigi Lablache or Tamburini, would be available. In consultation with Romani as to the subject, it was agreed that it would be based on the novel L'Étrangère of 1825 by Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt, and planned for the premiere on the opening night of the season on 26 December. In the 1820s, the popularity of this author, upon whom was bestowed the epithet "the prince of the romantics", rivalled that of Victor Hugo. Prévot's Le Solitaire appeared in 1821 and achieved an "extraordinary, even colossal, celebrity." In the space of several months, the book was reprinted a dozen times; it was translated into ten languages; there were no fewer than seven operas based on its story, and twice as many dramatic adaptations; and it was the subject of innumerable songs, parodies, paintings and lithographs. The success of his next three novels, Le Renégat in 1822, Ipsiboé in 1823, and L'Étrangère in 1825, was almost as great. However, by 20 September, Bellini told his Neapolitan friend Francesco Florimo that he did not think the performance could take place as scheduled due to Romani being ill. In